My goal in photography gear is to buy good equipment that I can use for multiple
types of photography: multiple use. My multi-use requirements include very low
light astrophotography to fast action wildlife photography, to landscape photography.
Further, the setup must be portable enough to travel to remote places, including
easily on airplanes. I have achieved my goals.

Introduction

Whether I'm going to a local wildlife area, or a dark sky site, or traveling
thousands of mile by air, I want a portable system that can excel at wildlife action
photography, landscapes, nightscapes, and the very low light deep sky astrophotography of galaxies,
nebulae and star clusters. And I want all this in a light package that I can carry.
Here I'll show my current system that meets all these requirements and weights less than
70 pounds, including lenses, 2 camera bodies, tripod, astro tracker mount, tripod heads,
batteries, and the cases to hold it all. The performance of such a small system is
astounding. The tracker and tripod can also be removed from the carrying case and put on
my backpack so I can hike to remote locations with under 50 pounds.

With a setup like I describe here, I can go to remote places, from National Parks in the US,
to the Serengeti, even traveling by small plane and still carry the full system.
And all this with stock cameras--no special modifications for astrophotography. The same
camera that is ideal for astrophotography is also ideal for wildlife action photography.

Example images with my system are shown in Figure 1a and 1b.

Figure 1a. These images are illustrative of night sky and deep sky astro
photos that are possible with stock modern digital cameras and lenses.
These images are natural color images made with lenses having focal
lengths from 35 mm to 420 mm. The Milky Way nightscape was made with a Canon 6D + Sigma Art
35 mm f/1.4 lens. All the other deep sky images were made with a stock
Canon 7D Mark 2 digital camera, and Canon 300 mm f/2.8 lens. At center,
above the mountains is the core of the Milky Way galaxy. At right is the
full frame image of the nebula in the sword of Orion, M42, made with the 300 mm and the Canon 7D2.
Top center is the Whirlpool galaxy, M51, made with a 300 mm f/2.8 + 1.4x teleconverter
(420 mm) and 7D2. At upper right is the Great Andromeda galaxy, M31, made with the
300 mm and 7D2.

Figure 1b. Tawny eagle coming in to a kill on the Serengeti
with a complex foreground and background. Tracking and autofocus speed
proved amazing in this case and in other images I made on
safari in the Serengeti in February 2015 with the 7D Mark II
camera and 300 f/2.8 L IS version II lens.
Gallery page is HERE.

The Portable System

The packed system is shown in Figure 2. Of course I wear the backpack and roll
the Pelican case if the surface is smooth. The cameras and lenses in the photo backpack
are shown in Figure 3 and the contents of the Pelican case are shown in
Figure 4.

Figure 2. The portable system weights less than 70 pounds in 2 small bags. The Pelican case
has rollers so can be rolled like a suitcase. The tripod and astro tracking system are in
the Pelican case and the cameras and lenses are in the photo backpack.

NOT RECOMMENDED: At this time I strongly do not recommend the
4th generation gimbal head. It looks like they have a great light weight
gimbal head, so I bought one. Out of the box I tested the clamps and
one axis froze. I have tried contacting the company multiple times
for a YEAR AND A HALF. I even wrote a review on their website thinking
they would see it in their approval process and contact me. I only got a
response after many months. If a company can't stand by their products,
do not buy from them. I have never ever made such a recommendation, and
waited 1.5 years for a response before making a public comment. I
had to modify the locking system in my machine shop to get a workable product.
The Gimbal head in Figure 4 is this modified head.

Figure 5. The Pelican case with all parts packed in protective bags for travel.

Figure 6. A Spiral Meteor Spears the Heart, NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day for September 15, 2016.
This image was made with a Canon 7D Mark II digital camera and 300 mm f/2.8
telephoto lens with the portable system, described here.
The Heart nebula is extremely faint and this 19-minute total exposure
time illustrates what an amazing camera the 7D Mark II camera is when paired with
the 300 f/2.8 lens.

The Assembled System

Figure 7.
AstroTrac TT320X-AG
mounted on a carbon fiber tripod. Included is the astrotrac wedge
for easier polar alignment, and a Wimberley gimbal mount for
easier positioning of the field of view with big heavy lenses.
The small wedge on top of the astrotrac, holding the Wimberley head is
a custom wedge made by a local machine shop. That custom wedge is
not necessary, but reduces stress.

Conclusions

The products listed here make it possible to have a multi-use landscape, nightscape,
wildlife action, and deep-sky astrophoto setup in an extremely portable system.
The system is easily taken on airplanes, including small aircraft.
Note the Pelican case must be checked baggage on airlines as it is too large for carry-on.
The system can be taken to remote locations in a backpack if you can carry about
50 pounds, or a little less by selecting only one camera and fewer lenses.

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